I’m celebrating by writing a few notes with my favorite pencils and prepping my calendar for April…it’s National Card & Letter Writing Month! Do you have any pencil or letter writing plans this weekend?
kimberly ah
kimberly at home
Category Archives: GalaxieSafari
Christmas: A Cocktail Story…A Tradition
For the third year in a row, Naoto and I held the Galaxie Safari Christmas Party at ch Distillery. Every December for the past few years, the distillery changes their menu to an A Christmas Story theme. I’ve written about it before here and here.
We enjoyed a couple of cocktails, a grilled cheese, and some potato wedges. 
Naoto celebrated his status as Employee of the Year for the second year in a row…
…and I still regret not ordering a second cup of eggnog…there’s still time to return before the season is over! 
Oh, and Wednesday was the seventeenth anniversary of the night I met Naoto…isn’t that crazy?! (Here’s an old blog post about that.) We took a little family selfie to mark the moment…you can tell Presley was really happy to participate.
Brookfield Arts Fest
We had a great day in Brookfield on Saturday at the Brookfield Fine Arts Festival. It was such a beautiful day! It was the first day of fall and the weather really cooperated with true fall-like temperatures. Our set-up was similar to Art Dans la Rue and Riverside…next year, I’d like to invest in a new table (ours is small and kind of rickety) and I’d like to work on using more of the tent space for stuff instead of just putting our usual craft show set-up outside. This year was all about getting comfortable with an outdoor set-up…next year hopefully we can perfect it! 
In the morning, it was breezy and chilly. I wasn’t prepared for how cold I would be standing around my tent as the sun was coming up. Thankfully I had a blanket in my car, so I wore it as a skirt to keep my legs extra warm. We also didn’t bring any chairs, so you might say we were a bit unprepared. But we’re both used to standing, so it was okay. 
Naoto stayed warm in the morning by using the exercise equipment in the park. He got a good leg workout there, and running to the farmers market for breakfast and lunch. 
By the afternoon, he was able to take a little nap in the sun while I took care of customers. 
It was our first time doing this show and we got a good reaction to the cards. A lot of people always say it’s a unique idea, which makes me happy that I’m able to offer something a little bit different. It’s always so fun chatting about puns and old stamps with people. 
We ended the show with our usual cocktail celebration. We went to LaBarra in Riverside, an Italian restaurant that we love. I am so lucky to have Naoto who is always game to help out and to man the booth when I need a little break. He’s worth every penny I pay him in dinner and beer.
Upcoming Shows & Galaxie Safari News
One craft show down, two to go this month! It is by far the busiest Galaxie Safari month around here…which is really exciting! 
This weekend, I am doing another outdoor show–the Brookfield Fine Arts Festival at Kiwanis Park in Brookfield. I am so excited to do another outdoor show, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the weather cooperates…right now it looks like it will be cool and dry. If you’re in the area, pop in to see us! 
And next weekend, I’m doing a mini show at Empowering Gardens here in Forest Park. EG deserves its own post, so I’ll save more for next week. 
And…I’m excited to announce that Galaxie Safari cards are now available at The Wardrobe in Springfield, Illinois! A customer at Art Dans la Rue sent one of my cards to the owner and she reached out to me to ask about carrying a few designs. So, I made a little wholesale page here on the site and got all ready to send some cards to Springfield. I am very excited to have some Abe cards (and more!) in our state capital. Now…if only I can talk Naoto into a little road trip to see the sites and visit The Wardrobe!
P.S. Did I tell you that I’m (reluctantly) on Facebook? If you don’t mind, please “like” my page! I promise I don’t post too often…Facebook never lets me forget how bad I am about posting there!
It’s Been Too Quiet…
I didn’t mean to take a long blog break–September has been a little crazy, at least crazy for me since I’m a little too used to the Slow Life. I’m hoping to take some time today and work on some blog posts to catch you up on everything.
Garage Galleries Recap
We had such a great time showing at Forest Park’s Garage Galleries last weekend! It is such a neat local event and we are so happy that we participated. Our Forest Park neighbors came out in full force–we had over 140 visitors* in our garage! 
Here was our garage set-up. Jerry was our host and he had a huge, clean garage with doors that opened on both sides, which was perfect for sunlight and a light cross-breeze. It was so hot and sticky on Saturday. He also had a beautiful garden that was a great place to retreat to when traffic was slow.
I shared a garage with Claire, a young artist who was showing her work for the first time, and Jason, who was a total pro with his own gallery walls and lighting. 
So many people recognized me from the Review article, so it was fun that they sort of knew my style already. (Who says print is dead?) And of course so many people recognized Naoto from Trader Joes. It was fun meeting fellow artists and art lovers from our village. 
Usually for each show I create something new, a framed piece or a card, and this time I sold out of a few new things, so this week, I need to beef up my stock and add some new pieces on Etsy. I have three shows coming up in September, so I need to get a jump start on what’s looking like a busy month!
Thanks to everyone who came out and showed your support! We hope to join in the fun again next year!
*I actually have no idea if this was a good number or not, but it felt busy and people seemed to be having a good time.
Garage Galleries 2018
On Saturday, I’ll be participating in Forest Park’s Garage Galleries, a neighborhood art walk where artists show their work in local garages. I’ll be in a garage in south Forest Park, 1306 Marengo Avenue, with two other artists. I’ll have my greeting cards and framed pieces ready to sell, but it’s a nice casual way to enjoy art of all kinds. There are forty artists from all over Chicagoland spread across sixteen garages, so you can meander your way through Forest Park and see it all, or pop into a cluster of garages and get a taste of what’s happening. The Forest Park Review did a story about it if you’d like to learn more.
I hope to see my local friends there!
Art in the Rain
For all but about two hours, Art Dans la Rue was a blast. And those two hours were baaaaaad. So. Much. Rain. We were attacked by a deluge of water that threatened to ruin pretty much everything I sell. Thankfully, our borrowed tent stayed strong, and Naoto found a tarp in the car that gave an extra layer of protection to the table. (Tents do not protect your things from splash-ups that occur during heavy downpours…something I didn’t really consider when I was planning for the weather.) I got drenched though, so I was wet pretty much the entire night. And my poor white tablecloth was covered with mud splatters. But, on the happiest of notes, Naoto and I work with amazing people who all reached out and offered us towels, garbage bags, brownies, wine…everything to make things better. 
The rain had good timing (well, ideal timing would have been waiting until Wednesday!) because it came and went before people got off work and things got busy. That was the bright side. There were a ton of people out enjoying the festivities after 5, and they all stayed mostly dry…except for an errant drip from a tent. 
During the rain, we kept ourselves entertained by chatting with our neighbors, the beignet sellers, and taking pictures with Madeline. 
Naoto kept buying me wine because I was so stressed out. It all worked out though…once the rain stopped and we all dried off, we had such a good time. So many of our friends and Naoto’s customers stopped to chat with us
A huge thank you to everyone who came out and supported the event. We can’t wait until next year!
P.S. The last picture was taken by Ally Vertigan. Thank you, Ally!
Art Dans la Rue
Bonjour! I’m popping in to remind my local friends that today is the day of Art Dans la Rue in Downtown Oak Park. It’s my second outdoor show and we’ll have special French greeting cards featuring vintage French postage stamps. And of course I’ll have my usual cards and tiny framed art, and a few new cards, too. There will be wine, beignets, fresh flowers, art, live music, a mime, crepes…not to mention a poodle parade later tonight.
I’ll be back soon with a “beach read” book recommendation for mail lovers!
Galaxie Safari in the News
If you haven’t seen my tweets and Instagrams from last week, I have exciting news! My tiny card business was featured in the local papers last week! You can read the article online here. A few weeks ago, I sat down with Nona Tepper, the reporter for the Forest Park Review, and we chatted about letter writing and card making and sending mail. It was a delightful conversation. A couple weeks later, they sent photographer Alexa Rogals to my home for a photo shoot, which was the most nerve-wracking part, at least before Alexa got there. (She’s a true professional who made me feel very comfortable.) Thankfully I was able to get my desk cleaned up in time for the photo shoot. It was neat to have my actual workspace featured in the article, though it’s never that clean when I’m actually making cards! (Today it’s a chaotic mix of personal mail, prep for my show this weekend, books, and newspapers!)
I’m so grateful to my local newspaper, The Review, for doing the article about me and other small businesses in our community. Just like it’s nice to open your mailbox and find a letter amongst the bills, it’s nice to open a newspaper and read some light articles amongst the politics and crime. We all need a little break now and then, right?
kimberly ah 